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The Four Pillars of High Performance
Paul C. Light
How to stay on course and achieve extraordinary performance in a sea of change
McGraw-Hill
December 2004
304 pages ISBN: 0071448799 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In 1999, Paul C. Light embarked on an ambitious project
which, if successful, would provide business organizations
with a powerful new tool for navigating the turbulent sea of
change that is today's global business environment. A guide
to achieving and maintaining superlative performance in a
highly unpredictable world, this book is the fruit of that
endeavor. In it you will learn proven methods for hardening
your organization against the surprises and risks of an
uncertain future. And you will learn how to maintain a
competitive edge in an increasingly competitive global
economy by being the first to identify and capitalize on the
most promising opportunities for growth. In researching The Four Pillars of High Performance
Dr. Light had unprecedented access to the vast information
resources of The RAND Corporation--an international leader
in the study of organizational performance for nearly six
decades. He also surveyed more than 125 senior RAND
researchers about their experiences with organizations of
all types and sizes, and spent four years gathering
information about what RAND has learned about creating and
sustaining high performance. What gradually emerged was a
portrait of the "robust organization"--that rare
organization which possesses both the agility to adjust to
changes in the business environment, at a moment’s notice,
and the compass needed to maintain a steady fix on its
strategic horizons. With the help of many fascinating and instructive case
studies and vignettes, Paul Light takes us inside a number
of robust organizations across a range of business sectors,
as well as in government, the military, and more. From the
examples set by Volvo, Intel, Marriot, DuPont and many other
world-class performers, he extracts the four key traits
common to all robust organizations: 1. Alertness: Spotting fluctuations as they
emerge--not after their effects have already been felt 2. Agility: Empowering employees with the authority
to make routine decisions, reducing barriers between units,
encouraging participatory management, and fostering open
communications 3. Adaptability: Changing with circumstances and
taking advantage of new opportunities as they arise 4. Alignment: Saturating the organization with
information and providing effective information technology Combining the wisdom of a leading national expert on
organizational performance with more than five decades of
research conducted by one of the world's oldest and most
revered think tanks, The Four Pillars of High
Performance is an indispensable and unprecedented
blueprint for transforming any company into a robust
organization.
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